How Did Human Brains Get to Be so Big?
In a study published last October, Fedrigo, Wray, Wall and colleagues tested the tradeoff hypothesis and pinpointed changes in two groups of molecules that may have shuttled more ...
Evolutionary Genomics
Genome sequencing efforts from the last decade have yielded an avalanche of data from a wide range of organisms. By comparing and contrasting these data in an effort to understand the tree of life, from its most ancient roots to its newest branches, evolutionary genomics researchers are working to understand how changes in the content and organization of genomes have contributed to the diversity of life on Earth, as well as the processes that have shaped those changes.
The IGSP is also integral to a new Primate Genomics Initiative at Duke, based in the Department of Evolutionary Anthropology. This interdisciplinary initiative aims to foster collaborations among Duke scientists studying primate cognition, behavior, anatomy, neuroscience, medicine and genomics and train graduate students and faculty to incorporate genomic methods into their research.
Related News
Bringing Evolutionary Science to the Community
The goal of the center is to address emerging or novel questions in evolutionary science and its applications by supporting research and education across disciplinary, ...
New Evolution
The first genomes to be sequenced revealed something surprising: On a genetic level, we’re not that different from other species—even some very distantly related ones. What ...
Don't Throw It Out: 'Junk DNA' Essential In Evolution
There’s a revolution under way in biology. Scientists are coming to understand that genetics isn’t just about genes. Just as important are smaller sequences of DNA that ...
A Body Fit for a Freaky-Big Brain
Greg Wray, an evolutionary biologist at Duke University, is finding secrets to big brains in an entirely different place: the human genome. One of the genes involved in feeding ...
Related Publications
Evolution of Networks and Sequences in Eukaryotic Cell Cycle Control
In Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London, Nick Buchler and colleagues write that the presence in plants of cell cycle regulators such as Rb, E2F and ...
Reduced Selective Constraint in Endosymbionts: Elevation in Radical Amino Acid Replacements Occurs Genome-Wide
In this PLoS One report, Jennifer Wernegreen tests the hypothesis that purifying selection against radical amino acid changes is less effective in two insect endosymbiont ...
Changes in Gene Expression Associated with Reproductive Maturation in Wild Female Baboons
In Genome Biology and Evolution, Courtney Babbitt, Jenny Tung, Greg Wray and Susan Alberts suggest that adaptive change in the development of the primate ovary may be largely ...
Purifying Selection, Sequence Composition and Context-Specific Indel Mutations Shape Intraspecific Variation in a Bacterial Endosymbiont
In Genome Biology and Evolution, Laura Williams and Jennifer Wernegreen explored genomic variation within an obligate mutualist of the ant Camponotus vafer.
Boechera, a Model System for Ecological Genomics
In Molecular Ecology, Tom Mitchell-Olds and colleagues present the genus Boechera as an exemplary system with which to address ecological and evolutionary questions.
A Potential Role for Glucose Transporters in the Evolution of Human Brain Size
In Brain, Behavior and Evolution, Olivier Fedrigo and Greg Wray say that findings on glucose transporters represent the first case where adaptive, functional and genetic lines ...
